An Auburn man and a Lewiston woman who brought a 13-year-old runaway girl around Massachusetts and Maine for prostitution were each sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Portland to serve nine years in prison.

Alvin Houston Jr., 28, of Auburn and Shawna Calhoun, 25, of Lewiston also were sentenced by Judge Jon D. Levy to each serve five years of supervised release after completion of their federal prison terms. They each pleaded guilty July 29 to a charge of transporting a minor in interstate commerce with the intent that she engage in prostitution.

According to an affidavit, the girl ran away with Calhoun last Dec. 21 and her mother contacted local police. By tracing ongoing phone calls from the girl to her mother, police tracked her movements, which included time in Boston.

Officials said Calhoun and Houston drove the girl to various Boston hotels to engage in prostitution, through ads in the free online classifieds backpage.com, and officials set up a sting in a Bangor hotel.

On New Year’s Eve, Calhoun and Houston drove the girl to a Bangor hotel for what they thought was a meeting with a client. Calhoun and Houston were arrested in the parking lot, where they were waiting in a rental car, according to the affidavit.

The girl, who was not arrested or charged, was released to her mother about 5:30 a.m. Jan. 1, according to the affidavit.

Scott Dolan can be contacted at 791-6304 or at:

sdolan@pressherald.com

Twitter: scottddolan

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